'Love has always passed me by'

Love transforms, love heals. But sometimes it lays deadly traps and ends up destroying the person who decided to surrender himself completely. How can the force that moves the world and keeps the stars in their places be, at once, so creative and so devastating? 

We are used to thinking that what we give is the same as what we receive, but people who love, expecting to be loved in return, are wasting their time. 

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange. 

Contradictions are what make love grow. Conflicts are what allow love to remain by our side. 

Life is too short for us to keep important words, for example, 'I love you', locked in our hearts. 

But do not always expect to hear the same words back. We love because we need to love. Otherwise, love loses all meaning and the sun ceases to shine. 

- Paulo Coelho, Manuscript found in Accra